tigertail in new york

I fly out tomorrow to my homeland for my first visit since I moved here. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. Excited cos there's so much to do and so many people to catch up with, but nervous cos as much as we'd like to believe everything back home has been encased in a beautiful bubble waiting for us to return, that's not the case.

People have left the city, moved interstate and overseas, changed careers, changed lives, fallen in and out of love, conquered demons, fallen of the wagon, disappeared from the face of the earth..

I was supposed to pack today, and then have a leisurely day tomorrow preparing for my flight and finalising everything from my last job. Instead I was woken with a phone call at 9am after getting home at 3am after wrap drinks for the film I just finished working on. Keys for a truck were nowhere to be found, and people meant to drive to the set to wrap it out were nowhere to be found.

I ended up driving out to the far reaches of Long Island to get another set of keys, delivering them to Jersey and then driving back into the city to run errands, buy some things people have asked me to bring back to Australia and have farewell lunch with my brother.

I got home at 7:30pm.

I don't want to be packing till 3 or 4 am like the last few trips I have been on, so I'm about to make some calls and get started.

I really need a vacation... Hopefully I'll get to rest a little on this trip and not spend all my time going through boxes of stuff sorting out what to bring back here ;^)

Wish me luck!!

Posted by Ness at 8:10 PM | Permalink | Comments

Long time coming, long time since I've written, long time since I've been home...

And although I've been slack and haven't emailed or written on my blog in a while, it doesn't mean I've forgotten people or haven't missed you all - I just rarely get a chance to sit in front of my computer to do anything non-work related.

On a side note, I mean slack in the Australian sense of the word, not the Carribean version:
Slack (Australian) - lazy, but not deliberately so
Slack (Carribean) - kind of slutty, man-stealing

This caused great confusion and hilarity when I mentioned how slack I'd been to some of my friends over here.

But I've just bought a ticket to Sydney for a visit, my first since moving here, and I'm very excited! I'm going home next week for 3 weeks. Two very good friends are getting married, and I'm looking forward to celebrating with them.

I'm also looking forward to catching up with all my fantastic people back home - friends, family, old work colleagues.. And seeing 2 cousins born since I left..

I'm starting a list of other amazing things I want to do:

(a) go to my beach and swim in the ocean
(b) eat at Tetsuyas
(c) go to the fish market and eat all the fresh seafood I can handle
(d) eat really good Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian food that tastes authentic and not watered down for American tastes
(e) walk out on that new glass platform thing they've attached to Centrepoint tower - or maybe not - walking on a transparent surface attached to the highest building in the city maybe not such a good idea
(f)buy "The Late Show", "Monkey", "Blue Murder" and "Best of the Chaser" on DVD
(g) go to the Korean baths
(h) visit all my old haunts


I'm still adding to the list...

It's also the opportunity to clear the slate - I'm currently archiving 1000 emails related to the last two films I worked on, and archiving old personal emails I never managed to respond to. I'm hoping I can catch up with people and we can go from there. Start anew with me not being a slack-arse (Australian version).

I can't wait...

Now I just need to finish up this film and I'm out.. currently on location tying up loose ends...


One week to go!

Posted by Ness at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments

I hear you.. Oh what a slacker!! I emailed her, commented on her blog, sent her pictures, left her messages on Facebook, she never responds - what's up with that???

I know it has been forever since I posted, but I really have been extraordinarily busy, and not the kind of busy where you sit at a desk in front of a computer. Busy like: get 4 hours sleep, go out into the wilds of New York City and State, find many and varied locations for filming, and negotiate with the owners, come back to an office or my apartment and merge all of the pictures together (maybe 3 or 4 hours worth) and then crawl into bed, only to wake up the next day and do it all again.

That's when I'm not on set for 12-18 hour days, or moving to new parts of NY.. or finding time to go to a bbq or dinner, or just hang out at a neighbourhood spot for a couple of hours of down time.

So quick summary before we move ahead for those who missed it:
* I moved to Brooklyn. I spent a lot of time hanging out with my friends in the Bk, and when it came time to move, Brooklyn seemed like the logical place to be. I don't know why I needed convincing - I love living here! Currently sitting out on my back patio with a glass of wine while I write this. Am soooo going to get a bbq so I can have bbqs out here over the next couple of months!

*I've been working with a bunch of different people, doing a bunch of different things, increasing my employment base, and networking opportunities.

*I met a whole bunch of new people about 3 weeks ago, through very random circumstances, and have made a whole bunch of new friends - now if only I had the time to post pictures online of the bbqs and book clubs I've attended, hopefully I won't lose these new people as my friends, and still hoping I haven't lost my old friends as work keeps me so busy I don't even notice months vanishing before my eyes.

*My parents are coming to visit and we're all going to Hawaii!!!! Haven't seen my family in 2 years, so really looking forward to that. Plus - real beaches!!! Blue water!!!! Scuba diving with beautiful fishies, and turtles and manta rays!!!

So expect little postings again from me - little wry anecdotes about cultural difference, some of my fave quotes from overheard, some very vague industry anecdotes (very vague - hey I still want to work in this town!) - you know, the usual.

Hopefully you'll all still come visit and read, and hopefully you'll comment now and then, just so I know you don't all hate me for vanishing off the face of the earth!

Oh, and hello to all the people still finding me by searching for how far they can park from a hydrant in new york - the answer is Within 15 feet (5 m) of a fire hydrant, unless a licensed driver remains in the vehicle to move it in an emergency. Watch me shoot up to the number one google spot!!

Posted by Ness at 7:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

Posted by Ness at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments

This is the world I want to live in, the world I want for the future. Not only for this country, or my home country, but for all of us...

Posted by Ness at 6:01 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today, February 13 2008, is a landmark day in Australian History.

Today, our newly elected Prime Minister offered an official apology to our nation's Indigenous people for the wrongs of the past, in particular for the taking away of Aboriginal children from their families.

Today Australians re-started the journey down the path to reconciliation, to acknowledgment of past wrongs and to new hopes for a better shared future.

Today will be remembered as the day the wheels were set in motion for all Australians to have the same opportunities, to celebrate our backgrounds and communities, to experience our cultures and share them with other Australians, to work together so we all can live together in peace and harmony.

It's been 8 years since I joined with a quarter of a million other Sydney-siders and walked over the Sydney Harbour Bridge for reconciliation. And for a long time I felt like the powerful surge of support for Indigenous Australians that was so much a part of that day had been lost under the previous government.

But today I feel proud. Today I feel uplifted. Today I celebrate. This is not the end of the struggle, but this is the beginning of healing together to move forward to a brighter future.

I know my Mum & my Aunty are out there flying Aboriginal flags today, and I'll be wearing my Aboriginal colours pin today in recognition of this great moment.

After so many years of being ashamed of the racism, intolerance and petty-mindedness of the previous government and what they were doing to our country, today I feel I can hold my head up and say "I'm Australian".

Because today we said one simple word that signifies so much.

Today we said "sorry".

Posted by Ness at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments

The other night a friend and I caught a car service (read: what used to be called a gypsy cab, Dad) to a spot in her neighbourhood. The driver was on his phone in Spanish, so my friend nudged me to speak Spanish to him so we could get a good price. So when we got to our destination, I spoke to him in Spanish, telling him that here would be fine.

He was surprised.

In Spanish
Cab Driver: You speak Spanish?
Me: Ummm.. yes I speak Spanish - we're speaking it now!
Cab Driver: Oh, you're very fluent! Where did you learn?
Me: I studied for 3 years at university, and I went to Cuba on a study exchange.
Cab Driver: Cuba?? Really?? Where are you from?
Me: Australia. Where are you from?
Cab Driver: the Dominican Republic. Australia, eh? With the Kangaroos??
Me: Yes - the kangaroos.
Cab Driver: and Heath Ledger!! So sad... (pause) Oh!! And Arnold Schwarzenegger
Me: Arnold Schwarzenegger?? Nooooo, he's Austrian!
Cab Driver: Oh, not Australian.. Austrian...

We managed to get a good deal on the ride, and I gave our cabbie a tip, despite his almost-inclusion of a right-wing former Mr Universe-turned-Governor in my country-folk.

Posted by Ness at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments